"Fiery Character! Rare Intensity! Complex Satisfaction!" Camacho!

So there we were, rummaging around in the cigar lounge's humidor, seeing what we could find.

We've come across some real treasures during our searches. This past week,* we came across this baby and a bunch of its friends. We bought them...

Man oh man, the aging! The AGING!!
Amazeballs! Camacho!

 

We know, we know. This doesn't look like the Camacho you see in your favorite B&M. You're used to the bright bands screaming CAMACHO! What you see here is old school Camacho.

If you were paying attention, you remember the new Camachos appeared waaaay back in June 2013. Sure, you noticed that new, bold packaging. But what lurked below that boldness is even more important.

 

Here's the dealio with the Corojo:

 

Did you know... Camacho blends the Corojo with all Cuban-seed Corojo tobacco grown in the Jamastran Valley of Honduras and a fifth priming wrapper. But the seeds? Oh, the seeds have a little history themselves, having been smuggled out of Cuba in the ‘60s So yeah, these are pretty darned close to actual Cuban tobacco--without actually smoking a Cuban cigar, naturally. [source]

 

The re-branding's subtle product change brought some sweetness to balance out the Criollo wrapper, although the wrapper and binder retain most elements of the old Havana blend. While still Honduran tobacco, the cigar's filler is now Criollo, rather than Corojo. Apparently, Dominican Piloto Cubano was also added for additional sweeter notes. [source]

 
"Both Camacho Corojo Maduros [old and new versions] have a very similar profile. Both are Cuban-seed Honduran Corojo puros. Both feature the same 5th Priming Honduran Corojo wrapper. Both have Honduran Corojo binders. Both have pure Honduran Corojo fillers. Only the newer blend points out that the filler is a blend of three different primings," according to Isaac Miller on his website Cigars!

 

According to CI, the new Camacho Corojo is "in a nutshell, an everyday treasure that was crafted with the true cigar aficionado in mind. Made with a super high-grade, fifth priming Corojo wrapper leaf and available in maduro, this fine specimen aims to please and succeeds with ease. Beneath the covers, an authentic Corojo binder and bevy of three primings of Corojo long-fillers complete the mix. Smooth, classic, well-aged, and well-constructed, Corojo is everything you need it to be....and more."

The Corojo's new, updated outfit.
[source]

Oh yeah. The new look. Why the new look? "Part of the redesign includes adding the image of a scorpion on Camacho’s boxes and bands, which Austin feels is emblematic of the brand’s heritage as well as its modern-day philosophy of aggressive competition. The bands and boxes have all received a complete makeover featuring bolder logos, scaled-up lettering and more colorful designs." [source]

Obviously, Valentino loved it, as we purchased a shenaniganful.**

So about those smuggled seeds from the Jamastran Valley of Honduras... says the Camacho website, "A rugged area of the country with a similar microclimate to that of Cuba’s famed, Vuelta Abajo region. Over the course of four decades, we learned and perfected growing the original Corojo strain outside of Cuba. Making us the last in the world preserving and in possession of this critical element that made Cuban cigars and Cuban tobacco famous."

No less than a hundred years after starting this blog post, I just went into the humidor to retrieve some of these oldies and goodies. D'oh! Instead, this:

Obviously, I took the picture, as it has that fuzzy, unfocused quality. 
Not unlike me day-to-day.

If you decide I have got to smoke one of these mo-fos, be warned: This is one hell of a full-bodied smoke. Another warning: "Tons of spice on the retrohale*** made me need to call the firetrucks to my nasal cavity," according to Stogies on the Rocks.

 

If you can get your hands on the older Corojos, do it! But if you can lay your mitts on the newer ones...do it! So really, you can't go wrong, as long as you keep some chocolates nearby for when your head starts to explode from the strength. Yay! Win!

 

Camacho is using "Fiery Character! Rare Intensity! Complex Satisfaction!" to describe one of their new line extensions. But really, it also applies to the entire company. Give them a smoke and find out! Go ahead! We'll wait...

 

 

 

 

 

*You would not even BELIEVE how long ago "this past week" was! Like...five months maybe?

 

**I just made that word up.

 

***“Retro-haling is the act of moving smoke from the back of the mouth, up through the sinuses, and exhaling through the nasal passages.” [source]